Thread: The Last Samurai (2003)

Like James Cameron's 2009 3D scifi fantasy action epic AVATAR (not to be confused under the penalty of death with the Nickelodeon show also subtitled The Last Airbender), Edward Zwick's 2003 historical action drama epic and Tom Cruise vehicle, The Last Samurai, is yet another variation on Kevin Costner's 1990 epic western Dances with Wolves or the 1970 film A Man Called Horse or even the 1962 David Lean epic Lawrence of Arabia or so, this time set in 1870's Japan for the most part, and with Japanese Samurai warriors instead of Native American Plains Indians (or, in Lawrence of Arabia's case, Arab tribesmen).

The Samurai Warriors of Japan are my favorite type of warrior--and one of Japan's most famous aspects.

One of the stars of the Last Samurai, Ken Watanabe, went on to act in two of Christopher Nolan's films, Batman Begins (2005) (with Christan Bale) and Inception (2010) (with Leonardo DiCaprio).